Personalised Gifts

Explore the Revised New Map Series (Colour)

Surveyed and Revised 1842-1898. Published in colour 1897-1904. Scale is 1:50,000.

In late 1896, the Ordnance Survey concluded that sales of the new maps to
civilians would help subsidise the costs, a consideration which helped drive
forward production of the first colour one-inch map the following year.
Even then, the debate continued, and some features, such as the use of
green for woodland (which only appeared on sheets 1 to 73, north of the
Preston to Hull line), were amended as the series progressed. Although
the final results were something of a compromise between the often
incompatible aims of the military, the Treasury and the Ordnance Survey,
the Revised New Series in colour stands as an elegant portrait of
late-Victorian Britain.

A sample of a 1:50,000 scale Revised New Series Colour Map.

The Revised New Map Series (Colour) is an immaculate record of a vibrant society on the
threshold of a still greater period of development and urbanisation. It
records countless reminders of the past, many of which were about to be
swept away for good.

For local historians, this is the final record of your part of the country
before the changes brought by the motor car. If your interest is genealogical,
the series coincides with the 1901 Census, showing the landscape your
ancestors inhabited.

Whatever your reason for being interested in your area’s
past, prepared to be entranced by these maps – enlarged and combined to match
the present-day OS Landrangers, they will reveal secrets of a familiar
landscape you never knew existed.

Key for Revised New Series (Colour) Maps, as shown on Folded Sheet Maps.